Death and Fate
by EmrysTheMerlin
Summary: Diane Grayson, AKA Robin, is in the clutches of Talia ah Ghul and Batman is injured in the Batcave. Unable to follow his daughter and with the rest of the league called away on a mission Batman must trust the safety of his daughter to the team, but can they find her in time and can Wally keep them from learning secrets they weren't meant to? DaddyBats. Clueless Team Fem!Robin
1. Cruel Awakenings

**Author's Note: THIS IS A SEQUEL! PLEASE READ **_Failsafe_**FIRST! That being said thanks to everyone who did read and review **_Failsafe_**, as I'm sure you all know this is my Fem! Robin (Diane Grayson) universe. Now I must clarify a few things. Damian will unfortunately not be in this story as he has not been born yet. Roy Harper, AKA Red Arrow will be making an appearance though I have yet to decide if I should let Mr. Angsty Arrow stay cause we are gonna have a lot of angsty Daddy Bat in this one. Also small note on the Lazarus Pit, yes I'm aware it's supposed to drive its user insane but I needed Diane mostly coherent so I tweaked the side effects a little. This one picks up almost where **_Failsafe_**left off. But anyway here we go, I own nothing. Please review. **

Death and Fate

1\. Cruel Awakenings

_Infinity Island, November 16__th__, 1:24 am _

Fire. Heat. Pain, so much pain. It felt like she was being burned all over again. Pain was all her world consisted of, blinding white pain and the feeling of drowning in liquid fire. So much pain, she couldn't handle it. She opened her mouth to scream and the liquid fire invaded her lungs, she couldn't breathe. She tried to gasp, to cry out, but the fire was everywhere. It was in her lungs and oh God all she wanted to do was breathe.

Talia watched as Diane Grayson shot upright in the glowing green waters of the Lazarus pit, coughing up its contents as she screamed. She knew from personal experience that the pit was not the most pleasant way to cure wounds or come back from the dead but Talia had no choice. She needed Diane awake and coherent for her plan, this was the only way to do that efficiently and mostly safely. She caught hold of the young acrobat as she began to thrash in the glowing pool. She held her close as the young girl cried and screamed. Talia carried her out of the pool and set her down as she coughed up more of the green liquid. Talia rubbed her back gently murmuring in the young girl's native language.

"E in regula putin Robin. E in regula."

Diane coughed again. She felt weak, the only other time she had felt like this was when she had caught pneumonia after a particularly bad brawl with Mr. Freeze. She coughed and dry wretched onto the stone floor. She was completely confused. The last thing she remembered clashed horribly with what was going on around her. Her last memory was of being trapped in the mother ship of that alien invasion, of setting off the charges and of fire consuming everything. But that couldn't have been real, she wouldn't be here now if it had. She took a few deep, if raspy breaths as she took in her surroundings. She was in some kind of underground chamber, in front of her glowed something she hadn't seen in a very long time. A Lazarus pit. She had to have been badly hurt if she was here. She couldn't remember how she'd been injured though.

Someone was rubbing her back soothingly, speaking words her mother had once spoken when she was sick as a small child. Diane tensed. It couldn't be her mother, could it? She whirled slipping and falling to her side, her instincts taking over as she rolled until she was facing the woman in question from a safer distance. Her eyes widened as she took in who it was sitting in front of her.

"Talia ah Ghul?" She coughed out, her voice raspy as if she hadn't used it recently. Her head ached and her world was still working on becoming clear so she wasn't actually sure if she was in fact face to face with the daughter of Ra's ah Ghul and second in command of the league of shadows. Talia nodded.

"Yes little Robin, I am Talia ah Ghul. It's nice to finally meet the Boy Wonder in person." She smiled sardonically. Diane's eyes widened, she knew. But how? Then her brain caught up to her and reminded her that she was one of Bruce's more infamous exes and she would logically know who Batman was and thus figure out who Robin was, it wasn't that big of an investigative leap if you were intelligent. Still it was unnerving to have someone call her the boy wonder out of uniform. What surprised her more was that Talia ah Ghul knew Romani. It was a difficult language to learn unless you were raised around it as Diane had been.

"Vorbesti Romani?" She coughed again and Talia stood. Diane wanted to stand but her legs and arms felt like jelly so she was forced to simply glare up at Talia from her spot on the floor.

"Nu este sufficient de bine. That's part of the reason you're here little Robin. We aren't going to hurt you, we need your assistance." Robin glared at the hand Talia held out to help her up. Talia smiled.

"You really don't have a choice little Robin. Unless you want all of Gotham to know the identity of the Dynamic Duo." Robin's eyes widened at the threat. She'd read the files on Talia, she always followed through on her threats and she knew that Batman could handle himself if his identity was let out but Diane wasn't about to be the reason that the world discovered that Batman was Bruce Wayne. She would figure out what to do, there had to be a way out of this but for now it looked like she didn't have any other options. She nodded and let Talia pull her to her shaking feet and blindfold her. She had no idea where she was and it didn't look likely that she would find out any time soon.

_Gotham City, November 16__th__ 4:30 am_

Bruce was groggy as he woke up. Something was clearly wrong but he couldn't remember what had happened. He slowly cracked open his eyes and blinked slowly. He was in the batcave. There was someone standing next to him, several someone's in fact. He ran over what he did remember rather quickly in his mind's eye and it made him shoot up on the bed.

"Diane!" His side was lanced with pain but he didn't care, he needed to find Diane. Someone laid a hand on his shoulder and gently but firmly pushed him back down onto the soft cotton sheets. He struggled but the hand did not release him. He knew the only person who would dare to keep him from looking for his daughter even if it was for his own good.

"Clark. I will pull out the kryptonite if you do not release me this instant." It wasn't an empty threat either, he would and could do just that and Clark seemed to realize this because the retraining hand disappeared an instant later. Bruce sat up slowly blinking until his vision cleared. He was on one of the medical beds in the batcave . Clark and Diana were standing in front of him, both in civvies and both looking concerned.

"You shouldn't be getting up yet Bruce, you were pretty heavily dosed when we found you and we still don't know what it was they…" Bruce interrupted him.

"Benzodiazepine, a very strong sedative among other things. Where is Diane?" Clark looked at Diana, concerned.

"We were hoping you could tell us that. She was gone when we got here. What happened? Did she wake up? It looked like you got attacked but there wasn't anyone here when we arrived." Diana said stepping forward to speak directly to Bruce. Bruce's heart dropped but he did not let himself show it.

"What time is it?" Bruce demanded. Diana looked down at her watch.

"Four forty in the morning." Bruce stood wobbling slightly but not even caring about his own pain.

"Bruce you shouldn't be up, you were shot twice. Alfred was unconscious in the kitchen when we found him! He said something about gas but that was all he could tell us. What happened!?" Clark was getting antsy but Bruce didn't care.

"The league of shadows broke in and caught me off guard. They drugged me and took Diane. They have now had her for five solid hours. What's worse is that I have almost no way of tracing her because she does not have her utility belt or any of her equipment with her. She is currently in the hands of Talia ah Ghul and I need to go after her." Diana and Clark stood stunned as Bruce made his way to the bat-computer. He looked determined, no wound was going to get in his way, he was coming for Talia and if there was even a hair out of place on Diane's head when he found her he was coming for blood.

**Translations**

**Just a note here the language I use here is not in fact Romani cause the mighty Google doesn't speak it. So it is in fact Romanian. **

E in regula putin Robin. E in regula. **It's alright little Robin. It's alright.**

Vorbesti Romani? **You speak Romani?**

Nu este sufficient de bine. **Not well enough.**


	2. Daggers Log

**Author's Note: Not much to say here, the language I'm using for the League of Shadows is Indonesian because they are normally and mostly biased in that area of the world and it's a language they are hoping Batman hasn't taught Robin yet. I only did minimal research for the plant that she uses to recognize where she is so my apologies if I get it wrong… So I'm just gonna give the usual disclaimer, I own nothing! Please review and enjoy.**

2\. Daggers Log

When Talia finally removed the blindfold they were in a simple room that looked very Japanese in its style, the paper walls and the sliding doors. There was a set of clothing waiting folded on the pillow of the Japanese style cot. They were black and looked similar to what Talia was wearing. Talia motioned for her to change out of her soaked silk pajamas. Diane eyed Talia closely. Talia smiled.

"Oh come now little Robin, don't tell me you're shy. I know my love better than you think, he'll have taught you everything he knows, maybe more, but he'll have taught you to find a way out the second you are left alone. You aren't going to get that chance, not yet anyway little one but I can't blame you for trying." Diane's eyes narrowed and Talia smiled recognizing it as the same glare her beloved gave when he was angry. But just as quickly it disappeared and Diane's face was back to the stoic analyzing expression she'd had even while blindfolded.

"I really don't want to hear about you and Bruce, seriously way too much information." Diane shuddered and stuck out her tongue. She turned around and began to change into the clothes they had provided for her. As she did she spoke, she had used this tactic a lot against almost every member of the Rouges Gallery, talk to stall and maybe get information out of them. Most of the time when Robin was caught it was done intentionally to get information. Batman hated this tactic of hers and constantly told her to stop, that she was going to get herself killed but she almost never listened.

"You guys know my size? That is beyond creepy. Do I even want to know how you guys know that?" Talia knew what Diane was doing, she was trying to gather information. She wouldn't get much out of Talia. She seemed to have given up on trying to figure out how she had come to be in this situation for the moment at least. Talia doubted she would ask directly mostly because she wouldn't trust Talia's word and with good reason.

"Woman's intuition." Talia responded and Diane laughed.

"Bullshit. But funny, I'll give you a few points there. Most of the Rouges can't really joke around very well." Diane finished zipping up the Kevlar suit. It made her feel a bit more relaxed to be back in some kind of protective gear again. Talia would have figured that it would probably make her more cooperative if she had some kind of protection but she was wrong. Diane wasn't going to be cooperative any more than she absolutely had to. She had figured out that she was somewhere deep in the territory of the League of Shadows, hence the blindfold. They didn't want her to see anything of importance. But they had to bring her here. Why? The answer to that was obvious, the Lazarus Pit. So she clearly hadn't been in any shape to do anything at all when they got her. And she'd been out of uniform. In her pajamas no less. There were a few ways that might have been the case but she couldn't be sure of the exact circumstances. She also knew that there was only one way that batman could track her now. She needed a computer, a cell phone something, anything, with internet access. But it looked like that was going to have to wait as Talia stood once more holding out the blindfold. Diane grinned slightly.

"It's like you don't trust me or something." Talia smirked.

"Would you?"

"Touché." Diane allowed Talia to retie the blindfold. When she finished she must have pulled a length of rope from somewhere because Diane felt her tying her hands together behind her back. Diane was starting to get some of her strength back, Talia was smarter than she looked. Diane felt Talia leading her out of the room and down several hallways. Diane was counting her footsteps and storing away the relative size of the parts of the compound she had been in and the noises, though few, she heard around her. She heard a set of doors opening and fresh air met her nose. Flowers and the ocean, a coast or an Island then. She took a deep breath tasting the air, Batman had taught her how to figure out where she was with a sensory impediment pretty early on and that skill had served her well so far, it wasn't about to fail her now. She recognized one of the flowers and heard a helicopter landing. She was led, rather gently given her other experiences with kidnappings both as Diane and as Robin, to the helicopter as she went over plants in her mind. It was a flower. It took her a moment to place it. She took another deep breath and it clicked.

It was a flower commonly called Dagger's log or Batta Lob, the flowering staff of the Agave plant, a member of the lily family and it only grew on the Caribbean Islands. Diane grinned. She had some kind of baring now and that gave her at least a card to play. She was loaded onto the helicopter and strapped into one of the seats. She could hear Talia shouting over the sounds of the rotating blades of the helicopter.

"Sekarang kita pergi ke makam gipsi." Diane knew that language. It took her a second to place it but she did as the pilot responded.

"Tentu saja Talia." Indonesian. They must be hoping she didn't speak it. Diane just about told them that she did in fact speak it and probably most of the other languages they could throw at her but there was no need to dash their hopes just yet. Diane had to work hard to keep her face straight as she settled into the chair and waited to make her move.

**Translations**

**Just a little note here I would like to thank the mighty Google for the translations here. **

Sekarang kita pergi ke makam gipsi. **Now we go to the gypsies tomb**

Tentu saja Talia. **Of course Talia.**


	3. Risky Business

**Author's Note: Holy Shit three whole chapters in one day! Four if you count the last one in **_Failsafe_**I am on a serious role. Not much to say here except that yes Roy knows who Robin is. I own nothing please review and enjoy.**

3\. Risky Business 

_Mount Justice, November 16__th__ 7:00 am_

Conner jerked awake to the distant sound of someone arguing. He had been a light sleeper since Robin, Kid Flash and Aqualad had woken him up at Cadmus. In the distance he could hear what sounded like Wally and Artemis arguing. He was about to pull his pillow over his head when he heard the distinct sound of Kaldur and Red arrow joining in. They almost always left Wally and Artemis to their arguments but not this time. He sat up and reached for his shirt. Pulling it on he headed for the door pausing for a second to scratch Wolf on the head. He walked out into the training area next to the zeta tubes and found the small group waiting around. Wally was yawning and had serious bed head. Artemis wasn't looking too much more awake. Red Arrow, or Roy as Robin Kaldur and Wally called him, was looking on edge and like he was about to leave Kaldur had turned when he head Superboy come in. The odd thing was Kaldur wasn't even supposed to be here. Kaldur was supposed to be in Atlantis. He was still wet, like he had only gotten here a short time ago.

"Conner, good to see you are awake my friend I was just about to fetch you and M'ggan." Conner nodded.

"What's going on? I thought you were supposed to be in Atlantis Kaldur." Kaldur nodded.

"I was until a few moments ago. I got an emergency signal from Batman requesting that I reconvene with the group immediately. I shall go fetch M'ggan." Conner nodded as Kaldur walked out of the room.

"And you guys?" Wally shrugged and stretched.

"No idea. I got a message the same as Kaldur. My first question was 'is Robin ok?' and he said it had nothing to do with Robin so that's good news." Artemis nodded and Roy spoke sounding annoyed.

"Look if this isn't about Robin I don't know why I'm even here." Wally smiled.

"Probably because Bat's threatened you with not getting to see Rob if you didn't cooperate." Conner didn't look past Roy's domino mask but he could tell that he was rolling his eyes. Kaldur reentered the room a sleepy eyed M'ggan in tow. The moment they reached the rest of the group the holo-screen in front of them sprang to life. Batman stared at them looking more grim than usual. Wally brightened.

"So rumor has it you have a mission for us?" Batman nodded.

"Diane Grayson has been kidnapped by the League of Shadows." There was no warning or sugar coating to his words just solid fact. Wally stopped breathing for a second as his heart dropped to somewhere near his sneakers. Roy pushed to the front of the group looking terrified.

"What!" Batman nodded.

"I can understand your distress Roy, I know you and Wally have been friends with Diane for years. That is the reason I included you on this mission Roy. You and Wally know Diane best and your knowledge may be invaluable to this mission." Roy cut across him as Wally stared, white as a sheet against his rumpled Flash t-shirt.

"And last I heard she was in a coma thanks to some freak horseback accident! What the hell happened!?" It was clear that Roy was pissed. Wally seemed too stunned to talk as Batman answered Roy's question.

"As far as we are aware she is still comatose. We do not know why the League of Shadows took her in her current state. Here is what we do know, this is a debrief so let me talk or I will pull you off the mission Roy." Roy glared looking mutinous but then several files opened on the screen in front of them and a picture of Diane Grayson, it had to have been her most recent school photo, flashed up on screen and his anger melted away.

"For those of you who don't know this is Diane Grayson, adoptive daughter of Bruce Wayne. She attends Gotham academy and spends her weekends volunteering at local charities. What sets her apart is the fact that besides the genius level IQ she happens to know the identities of several heroes, including Kid Flash and Red Arrow, though she first met him as Speedy. It is likely that the League took her because of this but it is unclear. From what we've been able to gather the league broke into Wayne manor, incapacitated Bruce Wayne's butler a man by the name of Alfred Pennyworth then broke into Diane's room. They shot and drugged Bruce Wayne and took Diane. From Wayne's description we have managed to identify the kidnapper as Talia ah Ghul, daughter of Ra's ah Ghul the ringleader of the League of Shadows." Another file popped up on the screen and Roy swore.

"Holy shit. You cannot be serious Bat's. You want them to go up against Ra's ah Ghul?!" Batman shook his head.

"No. There is no indication that Ra's is directly involved in the kidnapping. Normally this would be a Justice League matter however the league has been called off to assist Zatara in apprehending both Wotan and Felix Faust who appear to have teamed up. This is a very important rescue mission. Keep in mind that there is more than one life on the line. The life of two of your personal friends are on the line as well as the lives of those they care about. Keep in mind that the League of Shadows is not to be taken lightly. The last known coordinates we were able to track Diane to was a secluded corner of Northern Romania. I am sending the coordinates now. This is a covert rescue mission only. DO NOT engage Talia ah Ghul." The team all nodded and ran off to suit up.

Roy caught hold of Wally's arm before he could run after the others to get ready.

"I thought Batman said it didn't have anything to do with Robin." Wally nodded still insanely pale and looking scared but determined.

"Well I've been studying bat speak and technically it doesn't. Robin wasn't kidnapped. Diane was. So it doesn't have to do with Robin. But I think that it's about Robin, I mean I remember Robin telling me something about Talia being one of Batman's exes. It's possible that Talia knows." Roy nodded looking grim. Wally looked scared. Roy patted him on the arm.

"We'll get her back. We aren't losing her twice in two months." Wally nodded and Roy went back to staring at the files, as Wally raced off to change. Roy wasn't losing his little sister, not now. His earpiece beeped.

"Batman to Red Arrow."

"When did you start calling me that?" Roy frowned, why wouldn't Batman have just called back on the vid screen if he'd forgotten to tell them something?

"I was under the impression you wanted to lose the Speedy title. But I don't have time for that. It is imperative that the rest of the team does not find out that Diane and Robin are one and the same person. It is also possible that Diane may be awake when you find her. The League of Shadows has access to something called a Lazarus pit, it is possible they may have used it on her. Be prepared for anything, but Diane's secret cannot get out. I am relaying the same message to Kid Flash. It is up to the two of you to ensure that the rest of the team stays in the dark about this. Is that clear?" Roy nodded.

"Stupid but clear." He could practically hear Batman glaring.

'_The Bioship is ready. Meet me in the hanger.' _Miss Martian's voice rang through Roy's head and he nodded.

"Gotta go Batman, we'll bring her home safe." With that he shut off his earpiece and raced off to the hanger.

Back in the Batcave Bruce stared at the map and the blinking red light that signaled that he prayed was his daughter. He knew it was risky, he knew he could be sending the team into a trap but it was a risk he had to take. He put his head in his hands.

"You had better bring her home Roy, you'd better."


	4. The Tomb

**Author's Note: Not much to say here, again the language the League of Shadows is Indonesian though I'll probably throw in a few other languages all of which will be identified at the end of the chapter. I own nothing. Please review. **

4\. The Tomb

_Northern Romania, November 16__th__ 7:00 am_

Diane was a clever one, that much Talia would give the girl. Bruce had taught her well. When the helicopter had landed and one of Talia's men had unstrapped her from her seat she had been completely limp, she seemed to have nodded off about halfway there. The assassin, fearing Talia's wrath, had checked her pulse and found it there but she wasn't breathing. He was well aware of the side effects of the Lazarus pit and knew that the child was useless to them comatose, or worse. He had untied her hands and she had sprung into action. Grabbing hold of the idiot whom Talia made a mental note to kill later she had effortlessly flipped over him at the same time reaching into his pocket and pulling out his com unit's receiver and its battery pack effectively yanking the earpiece out of his ear as well. Before he could react she had kicked him in the head, pulled off her blindfold and raced away ducking into a small tunnel nearby and vanishing from sight. Not bothering with the time it would take to kill the idiot Talia dove after Diane.

Diane crouched in a small offshoot of the main tunnel, it looked like this might have been a mine shaft at some point but it was mostly crumbling now. The tunnel she was currently hiding in was more of an airway for the main tunnel than anything else. They would find her, she wasn't stupid, and she knew that. But she could do something in the meantime. She had none of her equipment, none of her weapons, not even the familiar weight of her com unit in her ear, so she was stranded with no way of contacting anyone. No way for Bruce to track her, so she would have to signal him. She waited until Talia and her two goons ran under her, until the sound of their footsteps had disappeared, before diving down to the floor of the tunnel. She raced off in the opposite direction, slipping from shadow to shadow until she was back at the helicopter. She knew under normal circumstances she would have been able to just take it and fly away but not right now. She was rapidly running out of energy, an after effect of the Lazarus pit and most likely being pulled back from the brink of death. But she could still signal Batman, she hoped.

She raced into the cockpit of the copter and pulled out the com link she'd snatched. She wired it into the communications system of the copter and quickly bashed out the mind blowing complicated access codes that allowed her into the Wayne Enterprises satellites from memory. Bruce had required that she learn it by heart after her second kidnapping. Once she had access, signaled to the copter by a rapid and obnoxious beeping intruder signal, she input the code she and Bats had agreed on for her distress signal. She just hoped it had gotten through for the moment she had finished Talia had grabbed her shoulder and twisted her arm up her back. One of the two ninjas Talia had brought with her walked up to them and nodded.

"Apakah dia berhasil sinyal siapa?" Diane grinned and glared at the masked ninja. Instead of giving Talia time to answer she spat back in the same language.

"Tidak peduli sekarang bodoh! Juga tidak pernah menganggap saya tidak tahu sesuatu!" Had the man not been wearing a mask Diane bet his eyes would have bugged out of his head. He pulled his hand back and backhanded her across the face, drawing blood as he did so. Diane simply glared, used to that and worse from far worse villains than this faceless shadow goon, the same goon whom she had made a fool of not ten minutes earlier if she wasn't mistaken. She'd faced up against the Joker and been kidnapped and beaten 'til she was nearly dead by Two Face, a slap wasn't going to faze her.

Talia however would not put up with this man and his idiocy, not to mention his insolence. Diane was not some hostage to be treated with contempt. Her beloved saw this child as his daughter which made Talia a mother to this child. No one touched her child. Without removing her grip on Diane's arm Talia reached into her holster and pulled out her gun. Without even blinking she shot the man in front of her between the eyes. He slumped to the ground and Diane stared baby blue eyes wide. Talia holstered her gun and looked down at Diane who looked a bit confused and a very angry.

"You didn't have to do that!" She was struggling slightly against Talia's grip but Talia wasn't letting her go just yet. Talia motioned for her other underling to pick up the rope that had been dropped earlier. He did so and quick stepped to Talia holding out the rope to her. Talia took it and tied it tightly around the young acrobat's wrist. She turned Diane around and pulled her hands together tying them securely in front of her. Diane was watching her like a hawk, or more accurately like the bat she had been raised to be for the last three years of her life. The look was cool and calculating and held more venom than the deadliest of snakes. It was almost out of place on her face, her big baby blue eyes seeming more suited to laughter than this kind of glare. Talia smiled slightly.

"You and Bruce do look quite alike you know. If I didn't know better I would think you were actually related." The poisonous glare intensified.

"You don't scare me Talia. Bruce has told me all about you, you're really just a daddy's girl with a gun." The kid had guts. Talia could respect that, the young acrobat reminded her of herself a little. Talia's smile never wavered.

"I didn't expect to scare you little one. I didn't even expect you to be intimidated. I know Bruce too well for that his protégé would never give over to fear. But there are other ways of making you cooperate." Talia wasn't bluffing, she wasn't above teaching this snarky child a lesson no matter how much she made her think of what a child between her and Bruce would be like. Instead she pulled another, longer length of rope out from under one of the seats in the copter and tied it around Diane's wrists before using it to lead her out of the helicopter.

Diane couldn't help but be a little humiliated and very angry. It should be simple for Robin to get out of this but the problem was she wasn't Robin right now. Robin had more than just training, Robin had tools, and Robin had a mask. Diane was exposed. Anything and everything she did was all on her, the death of that man was on her, and evil though he may have been he was still a person. Talia may have pulled the trigger but his death was her fault she knew that. Diane was dragged to a small crack in the cliff face. There was writing carved into the cliff side, worn but definitely there.

"Se află în interiorul pericol cel mai păsările

Moartea așteaptă creduli

Introduceți și se confruntă cu soarta ta."

Diane read the faded inscription aloud and raised an eyebrow. She was beginning to understand now. When she had first been pulled from the pit Talia had spoken Romani to her. She had stated that she didn't know enough herself. Diane had been too busy coughing up what felt like half the pit to really take what she had said to heart but now it made a bit more sense.

"That's why you kidnapped me! To be your translator!? Really? That is ridiculous even for a super villain plan! You couldn't just hire a linguist!" Diane would admit to being a bit more than pissed off at this point. She remembered almost nothing from before the pit and she was worried about her team, she had a nagging suspicion they had been in trouble or worse the last time they had seen each other. She was rapidly tiring and was angry with herself for that. She refused to show weakness around Talia and her remaining minion.

"That may seem simpler young one but we needed someone with skill enough to survive and the knowledge of the Romani culture to assist us." Diane glared at her. Talia was smiling wickedly. Diane knew that she was being mostly truthful but she couldn't help but feel that Talia was doing this partially just to mess with her, and probably Batman. But she didn't have much time to ponder this as Talia led her into the crack in the cliff.

**Translations**

**Thank you mighty Google!**

Apakah dai berhasil sinyal siapa? **Did she manage to signal anyone?**

Tidak peduli sekarang bodoh! Juga tidak pernah menganggap saya tidak tahu sesuatu! **Doesn't matter now stupid! Also, never assume I don't know something! (Indoneasian) **

Se află în interiorul pericol cel mai păsările

Moartea așteaptă creduli

Introduceți și se confruntă cu soarta ta

**Inside lies danger most fowl**

**Death awaits the unwary **

**Enter and face your Fate (Romanian pretending to be Romani)**


	5. The Chase

**Author's Note: Sorry this story is taking so long to get out. Just to note here Robin has been teaching Kid Flash and Red Arrow Romani for the last year neither of them is fluent but together they know enough to get by. **_'__This is them speaking with the mind link.'_ **I do not own anything.**

5\. The Chase

_Northern Romania November 16__th__ 8:00 am _

The bioship landed in the mountains of Romania just a few miles away from the source of the signal. Red Arrow and Kid Flash made it to the scene first, Roy having grabbed hold of Wally right before he took off out of the bioship. At the source they found a helicopter that Roy immediately recognized as one belonging to the League of Shadows. There was a body next to the copter.

"Bullet to the head. Looks like one of Talia's goons." Kid Flash frowned running a hand through his bright red hair making it stick up straight off his head.

"But why kill him? Why kill one of your own, it doesn't make sense." Roy shook his head as he climbed into the copter as the rest of the team caught up to them. Kid Flash watched as Red Arrow examined the console.

"You haven't dealt with the League of Shadows much Kid, they kill their own for insanely minor offences. I've been staking out one of their hideouts for a while." He paused as he ducked under the communications system.

"Kid's good. Rigged up a signal with next to nothing." Roy commented trying to sound off hand. He was proud of Robin and as usual impressed with the thirteen year olds skill but he had to treat this like it was Diane, not Robin. That wasn't going to be easy.

"Batman did say she had a genius level IQ." M'ggan said watching as Roy examined the communications system of the copter. Aqualad nodded examining the body. Superboy was looking around for anything out of place. There were footprints all over the place. Two trails lead in opposite directions. Wolf sniffed the ground and growled. Kid Flash and Red Arrow had objected against bringing Wolf, slightly afraid that he might give the game away. After all it wasn't like Robin could change her sent by taking off her mask. Wolf whined softly and began to follow one of the trails. Superboy followed him and ran a hand over the inscription on the cliff face.

"Look! What language is that?" M'ggan floated over to him and frowned.

"I've seen it before, Robin used it to write notes to Kid Flash during briefings." Kid Flash raced over to the wall and looked over the inscription and squinted.

"Inside lies danger most f- fowl. Sorry I'm still learning Romani, I'm not that great. I think the next bit says, death a waits the… shit I don't know that word." Roy sighed.

"Death awaits the unwary. Enter and face your fate." Wally turned to Roy and raised an eyebrow. Roy smirked.

"What? You aren't the only one she's been teaching." Artemis narrowed her eyes.

"Who's been teaching you guys Romani?" Roy took a step back examining the cliff face.

"Diane Grayson. We've been friends for a while, it's her first language so she figured she should teach it to us so we can mess with people." Wally nodded. M'ggan frowned.

"That's odd." Wally turned to M'ggan as Roy continued to examine the cliff face.

"What's odd?" M'ggan shook her head.

"Robin said his native language was Romani." Wally stared but before he could say anything Roy tapped him on the shoulder and pointed a few feet away from the inscription.

"Look, that look like an entrance to anyone else?" The group looked over towards the crack he was pointing at. It looked just big enough for one person at a time to squeeze through. Wolf scratched at the crack in the wall and whined. Roy sighed.

"Well, looks like that's where we are headed. Be careful, it could be a trap." The team nodded and headed into the crack in the cliff face.


	6. The First Riddle

**Author's Note: I know I haven't updated this one in a while. I got stuck. Some of the inspiration for this comes from an old episode of Justice League Unlimited. There will be some Romanian pretending to be Romani here, translations to follow. I own nothing. **

6\. The First Riddle

Talia, Diane and Talia's last goon had reached a wall covered in raised glyphs, letters all jumbled up with no pattern or reason to their arrangement. There was something written on the left adjacent wall.

"Găsiți un nume, cel care e adevărat și trecerea la mormânt va fi dezvăluit la tine." Diane read it aloud and frowned slightly.

"Hmmmm." Talia raised an eyebrow at her.

"What does the riddle say little one?" Diane rolled her eyes.

"You need to stop calling me little one. Seriously it's creepy. The riddle says 'Find the name, the one that's true and the passage to the tomb will be revealed to you.' Got any ideas?" Talia thought for a moment. Then she nodded and spoke.

"This tomb belongs to an ancient Romani sorceress, a gypsy much like your ancestors. She was one of the most powerful magic users of her time. There is a story that when she died her power was stored inside an artifact and hidden deep in her tomb." Diane cut across Talia.

"And someone hired the shadows to get this artifact. But why hire you lot. You guys are assassins not treasure hunters." Talia nodded slightly.

"This is more of repaying a favor owed to a friend of my fathers." Diane rolled her eyes.

"Ah. So does the Legend say what the gypsies name was?" Talia smiled.

"The legend calls her Lady Fate." Diane nodded and held up her hands, which were still tied together.

"I can't do this with my hands tied. I don't trust you and you don't trust me, that's fair. But you want my help and I want to get back home in one piece. So it looks like for the moment we are going to have to work together. Agreed?" Talia nodded and pulled a knife from a sheath at her side. She cut through the ropes that bound Diane's hands but kept a firm grip on her wrists.

"You are a smart child, do not waste that by doing something stupid that would force me to kill you." With that she released her grip on Diane who rubbed her wrists and turned back to the wall.

"Alright so the legends call her Lady Fate. And there's no other name?" Talia shook her head.

"No there is no other recorded name, I have done extensive research. There was no other name for her. She is still often depicted on Romani tarot cards as the Fate card." Diane nodded and stepped up to the wall.

"So let's see. Lady in Romani is doamnă." She quickly found the proper letters and typed out the first word on the wall. A creaking sounded but nothing seemed to move.

"And fate in Romani is soartă." She tapped the second word out on the raised glyphs and the creaking sound increased and the wall cracked open revealing a darker tunnel ahead. Diane held out her hand for a flashlight but Talia shook her head.

"No he goes first." Talia's faceless goon stepped in front of them and began to walk down the hallway. Diane stepped after him and Talia brought up the rear. Diane glanced back as the wall began to slide shut and spotted a flash of yellow and red racing into the room followed by a glimpse of green skin and red hair. They had come for her. She turned back to face forward and smiled slightly.

Wally swore loudly as the wall closed. He had no idea how to get through this one. He almost slammed a fist into the wall when Red Arrow grabbed his elbow. He motioned to the riddle and the two of them began to try to decipher it. M'ggan rubbed her temple.

"M'ggan, what's wrong?" Artemis was on edge, she liked Diane, knew her personally from school, and she knew how ruthless the shadow could be. She really hoped that Diane was ok. She would never be able to look Barbara in the face again if Diane got hurt now, while they were on a mission to rescue her. Barbara had been depressed ever since Diane's accident which had rather strangely almost exactly coincided with Robin slipping into a coma. But it had to be a coincidence, they were too different, even with Artemis's suspicions that the boy wonder wasn't really a boy. M'ggan shook her head.

"Someone's broadcasting their thoughts." She seemed to concentrate harder as the team turned to her.

"I think it might be Diane Grayson. It's a girl but it's almost familiar." Wally twitched but Roy kept his head.

"What is she thinking?" M'ggan spoke carefully eyes still closed as she focused.

"Doamnă soartă. She keeps spelling it out in her mind, but she's trying to broadcast it. What does that mean?" Wally's eyes widened.

"It means she's awake! She must have spotted us as the wall closed. She's trying to help us. It's got to be the answer to the riddle! M'ggan spell it out for me!" The Martian obliged slowly spelling out the two words. As Wally pushed the corresponding glyphs the wall began to open again. Wally grinned and was about to race off but Roy caught his elbow again.

"You race off like that you're gonna get her killed. We stick together, Wolf's got her scent. We should be able to follow him to find her. This place is a tomb, it says so in the riddle. This place is bound to be crawling with traps." Kaldur nodded.

"Radio silence, we do not want the shadows knowing we are here. Miss Martian link us up." M'ggan nodded and linked them all together mentally. For a moment she thought she felt Robin's mind but she shook it off. The last time they had been linked up like this was the simulation, she was just missing their youngest team member. She couldn't think about that now, not with this innocent girl's life on the line. They headed off down the hall.

**Translations**

**These are all Romanian pretending to be Romani, and all thanks to Google Translate.**

**Găsiți un nume, cel care e adevărat și trecerea la mormânt va fi dezvăluit la tine.**

Find the name, the one that's true and the passage to the tomb will be revealed to you.

**Doamnă soartă **Lady Fate


	7. The Second Riddle

**Author's Note: I know I haven't updated this one in forever but here we are again. My jobs been driving me crazy so I haven't had time to write at all in the past few weeks. Also I didn't really do any actual historical or scientific research for this so I have no idea if it's true or not so please don't be offended. Once again translations will follow the story. I own nothing.**

7\. The Second Riddle

The hallway was long and twisting and grew darker the farther they walked. Diane was used to the dark, she was a bat after all, but after a few yards Talia's faceless henchman pulled a light out of one of his pouches. As they continued down the hall Diane realized she hadn't investigated the two pouches she had on the clothing she'd been provided. The first one was empty, she was only slightly disappointed. The second one yielded a small length of rope, about the length of Diane's outstretched arm, it might come in handy later. The henchman in front of her paused and she leaned around him to try and see what he had seen. In the slightly dim light she could almost make out some writing on the wall. Beyond them stretched two hallways made of different types of stone.

"Here let me see the light." Without waiting for him to hand it to her, or more likely refuse to, she snatched it out of his hand before he could realize what was happening.

"Ce este negru atunci când îl obține , de culoare roșie atunci când este utilizat , și gri când îl arunci. What is black when you get it, red when you use it, and grey when you throw it away? Hmmm." Diane tapped a finger on her chin and frowned for a moment.

"Fun fact time! Talia, you said you did research, what besides gypsies are the Romani famous for being?" Talia raised an eyebrow at the young girl who was clearly playing with her at least a little. She decided she could play along for the moment, after all the child was amusing in her own way.

"Miners, and jewelers, they were said to be adept fortune tellers as well." Diane raised a hand.

"No need to show off you already got the right answer the first time. There were a few clans of Romani who chose to settle in the mountains and mine for the precious rocks, gems and the like. I'm guessing these mountains, since we are in Romania." The henchman gasped slightly.

"Oh come on it wasn't that hard to figure out. Seriously where else was the tomb of an ancient Romani sorceress going to be, Transylvania? But that's not the point, point is the Romani valued knowledge and the sharing there of. So even if she was raised as a gypsy not a miner she would have been taught to recognize different rocks, useful ones." Diane shone the light around first down the hallway to the left then the right. She frowned.

"But that hallway is granite, and that one's limestone. So the riddle doesn't make sense. Unless…" Diane shone the light back at the wall on which the riddle was written. It seemed to be made of an entirely different kind of stone.

"There we are." She tossed the light back to the confused henchman and vaulted up the solid wall so she was level with the ceiling, using the letters of the riddle as footholds as she pushed against the seemingly solid black rock. There was a faint click and a gust of dusty air and Diane was disappearing through the nearly invisible hole in the ceiling. Talia leapt after the girl calling for her henchman to follow them into the crawl space that lay above the two false paths.

Meanwhile the rest of the team was creeping down the hall doing their best to follow the white smudge in the darkness that was Wolf. The genetically enhanced canine seemed to be the only one not having problems seeing in the inky black of the tunnel. After the third time Wally stepped on her foot Artemis swore in a whisper.

"Guys the shadows could be right in front of us with the girl and we'd never know. We need a light." Kaldur frowned they were usually better prepared than this for missions, he couldn't understand why they would be underequipped now.

"News flash arrow head, Robin is the one with the equipment on the team remember. We've got the powers, you and Red have the arrows and the attitude, and Robs got the gear." Wally snapped at her without thinking. She glared through the dark at what she thought was the speedster.

"Well news flash kid idiot, we are kind of Robin-less at the moment. Got anything useful to say? Or are you just gonna keep pointing out the obvious?" Roy was amazed, he hadn't seen these two together before but they were running out of time, the longer they stayed and fought each other the farther they were from saving Diane.

"Enough! Robin's not the only one with tricks up his sleeve." Roy reached into his quiver and pulled out an arrow. He fiddled with it for a second.

"Shade your eyes." He turned the arrow head and flooded the hallway with light. Blinking hard the team turned to Roy who was holding his arrow like it was a torch.

"Flash arrows meant to temporarily blind an enemy, but I tweaked it a bit. It should last for about an hour, if I did it right." Artemis raised a condescending eyebrow.

"If you did it right?" Roy glared.

"Yes, if I did it right. I've never done it before, up to now it was just a theory. Rob and I talked about it years ago. This is the first time I've had to use the theory so yeah if." They continued down the hall till they reached a crossroads. Wally looked at the wall slightly confused.

"Who builds a wall out of charcoal? That just doesn't make any sense." Wolf walked right up to the wall and stared up whining. M'ggan floated up to the ceiling above the hound.

"There's an opening here, but it looks like we won't all fit at once, and Wolf's not going to fit at all." Superboy frowned but ordered Wolf to stay behind as one by one they climbed into the opening he had indicated.

**Translations**

**Thank you mighty google.**

**Ce este negru atunci când îl obține , de culoare roșie atunci când este utilizat , și gri când îl arunci (Romainan pretending to be Romani) **What is black when you get it, red when you use it, and grey when you throw it away? Answer? Charcoal. 


	8. The Third Riddle

**Author's Note: I know I haven't updated in forever… Sorry. Read on my pretties! Read on. I own nothing.**

8\. The Third Riddle

Diane hopped out of the crawl space onto a flat surface, wishing she had a flashlight of her own. Moments later Talia leapt out of the tiny opening and was followed closely by her henchman who was slightly less graceful and had to roll to regain his feet. He held up the light and revealed the chamber in which they stood. It was about the same size as the hanger in mount justice. Talia pulled a second light out of her own pouch and lit the large cavern fully. It was deep, a crumbling pathway leading across the chamber to a large arched doorway. There was a large stone door with six items sitting on a ledge attached to it. The bridge looked in bad shape. It appeared to be crumbling in places, mostly around the edges. There were also holes scattered throughout the little of the bridge that remained mostly intact. Diane frowned as she stretched her arms above her head.

"I shouldn't be this stiff. I'm never this stiff. The last time I was this stiff was after they d… Wait a minute, that would mean I haven't even stretched in two weeks, maybe longer." She stretched her back slightly her frown deepening.

"Longer, much longer. What the hell happened to me Talia?" Talia shook her head slightly.

"I don't know the details little one. I know you were injured. You've been in a coma for a little over two months. Bruce's cover story is that you hit your head after a freak horseback riding accident." Diane stared at her.

"That can't be right. I don't even remember the last thing that happened, it's all a blur." Talia nodded.

"An effect of the Lazarus pit I'm afraid. You ready to cross this?" Diane stretched her legs and did a quick backbend that ended in a handstand, then she flipped to her feet and nodded.

"Yeah, I'm not as stretched as I should be but it'll do for now. I am kinda curious at this point about what you lot are here for." The three of them advanced carefully down the crumbling pathway. About halfway down the pathway the rock under Diane began to crumble she flipped forward and just managed to make it over the edge of the hole landing on her feet, stumbling slightly as Talia grabbed her arm to steady her.

"That was a little too close for my tastes." Diane shook her head and Talia nodded in agreement as they hurried across the remainder of the bridge. They made it to the door unscathed, much to Diane's relief.

"Alegeți cu înțelepciune sau aceasta va fi locul tău de odihnă, precum și a mea. Pentru a vă ajuta în alegerea dumneavoastră să vă dau acest indiciu. Ai auzit o vorbesc pentru că are o limbă greu. Dar nu poate respira pentru că nu are un plămân." Diane read off the door and turned to the six objects lined up under the inscription.

"So here's the thing about this one. We pick wrong this whole place comes tumbling down around our ears, buries us alive and we die. But considering how old this tomb is and therefore how old these traps are, it could come tumbling down around our ears anyway. Is this friend of your fathers really that important?" Talia glared down at the girl. She was fishing for information Talia knew that. But she also knew that the Justice Brats were catching up, Diane was too relaxed for them not to be. She decided it would be shrewd here to pick her battles.

"He like myself and my father is not one you would want to mess with unless you want your life thrown into chaos." Diane tilted her head in thought.

"Hmmm. Well alright, but if we die I'm blaming you." The faceless goon grabbed Diane's wrist as she reached out to take an item off the shelf.

"What does the riddle say before you kill us all?" Talia pulled her gun without even blinking.

"If you do not remove your hand from her you will be the first to die." The goon released Diane's wrist and took a step away from her. Diane wasn't sure who to glare at so she settled for answering the question instead.

"It says, choose wisely or this will be your resting place as well as mine. To help you in your choice I give you this clue. You can hear it speak for it has a hard tongue. But it cannot breathe for it has not a lung." She reached back out to the shelf and carefully picked up the small gold bell that rested upon it. It was about the size of her palm and had something engraved on it but Diane didn't have time to investigate further. There was a slight creaking noise and the rock wall shifted slightly. All three of them tensed but then in a shower of dirt the door creaked in almost ominously. Diane glanced down at the bell in her hand and grinned sardonically up at the faceless shadow goon as she rang it gently.

"See I know what I'm doing. I regularly face up against the Riddler, you shouldn't doubt my riddling skills." Talia smiled slightly as she motioned her henchman forward. But as he stepped forward there was a crash from the other side of the bridge. Talia whipped her gun out, her goon following suit as she shoved Diane into the passage behind her. Talia's goon fired at the teen that had fallen out of the hole in the ceiling. Diane spotted the yellow suit of Kid Flash and screamed as the bullets raced towards him.

Before they could strike him Superboy leapt out of the hole and they bounced off of his chest harmlessly. Talia turned and grabbed Diane's arm racing off down the dark passageway as her goon kept firing at the teens, pushing the door closed as he did so. Superboy charged forward and the bridge crumbled under him. He let out a cry of surprise as he fell. The goon took that opportunity to close the door as far as it would go. It wouldn't hold the teens for long but it would be just long enough for them to slip off into the shadows.

M'ggan dove after Superboy as Artemis and Red Arrow knelt down to check on Kid Flash. Once they were sure he was ok, just a bit dazed from his fall, Red Arrow smacked him in the back of the head.

"Nice move Kid. Now they know we're here." Wally couldn't really argue with him as he was pulled to his feet. Artemis stayed silent for once. They had been arguing, distracting Wally as he followed M'ggan down the tunnel. M'ggan had been cloaked but then Wally hadn't been watching where he was going. He looked downright upset about alerting the Shadows to their presence. Though Roy really couldn't blame him, he was still hearing Diane's scream echo around them. That was going to haunt his nightmares even after they got her back. M'ggan flew Superboy to the other side of the room and went back for the others. They were so close.

Diane's world was reeling, visions of a reality that couldn't exist echoing through her head as Talia dragged her down the pitch black hall. Artemis evaporating in a blast of light, Wolf not far behind, being forced to leave Kaldur behind knowing he would die. Superboy being fried alive by the same light that had taken the others, every member of the league dying without a fight. She couldn't think about that now. She just hoped with every ounce of her being that Wally hadn't been shot. After all they were here to save her.

**Translations: Thank you Google. This continues to be Romanian pretending to be Romani. Yes I know they are different but I can't find a Romani translator so I'm stuck with what I've got.**

**Alegeți cu înțelepciune sau aceasta va fi locul tău de odihnă, precum și a mea. Pentru a vă ajuta în alegerea dumneavoastră să vă dau acest indiciu. Ai auzit o vorbesc pentru că are o limbă greu. Dar nu poate respira pentru că nu are un plămân. **Choose wisely or this will be your resting place as well as mine. To help you in your choice I give you this clue. You hear it speak for it has a hard tongue. But it cannot breathe for it has not a lung.


	9. The Lady Returns

**Authors Note: Yes I know Romani and Romanian are not the same. However I can't find practically any information on Romani but according to my research Dick Grayson is Romani not Romanian. My apologies for any inaccuracies but remember it's all in good fun. Please keep that in mind. I own nothing. **

Lady Returns

Talia pulled a surprisingly unresisting Diane down the corridor of stone. One of Diane's hands was pressed to her forehead, the others wrist was gripped tight in Talia's hand as they raced away from the justice brats. Talia's goon was following them, gun still drawn. They soon came to a solid wall. Talia pulled out a flashlight but there was no riddle on this wall. It was flat stone. Talia's goon glared at Diane clearly thinking the girl had led them the wrong way but Diane wasn't looking at him. Her head was spinning and suddenly a pain lanced through her temple like someone had just driven a hot iron into her brain. She stifled a scream as her world spun once more.

Talia steadied the girl as she muffled a scream behind her hands. She was shaking from head to toe. Her memories of whatever had wound her up in a coma were clearly returning, and it was nothing pleasant if her reaction was anything to go by. But Talia just wished she'd had better timing. Slowly the trembling slowed but it never really stopped, Diane lowered her hands. She still looked terrified but there was something else in her eyes. She glared at Talia.

"Can we please get this over with so I can go home?" Even her voice was shaking. Talia nodded at the wall before them.

"The room we need should be on the other side of this wall. Find us a way in and you're home free." Diane nodded and placed her shaking hands on the wall. She searched in the near complete darkness for almost a minute until she found something. She motioned for Talia to move the light closer so she could see what she had found. There was a slot in the wall, shaped like a perfect circle with a small rectangular slot in the center. Diane thought for a second then snapped her fingers and pulled the bell out of one of the pouches on the suit she was wearing. She looked down at it for a minute before Talia tapped her on the shoulder. Diane started as if she'd forgotten the woman was there and fit the bell into the slot on the wall. She turned it and the wall in front of them crumbled into dust in a matter of seconds. Without waiting for Talia Diane stepped forward into the actual burial chamber. There was a stone coffin resting in the center of the room. A statue of a woman in a long flowing dress stood at the head of the coffin as if standing guard. Though the statue itself was fully made of a white marble there was what looked to be a beaded tiara resting around her head. Talia smiled and walked up to the statue. Diane was standing in front of the statue with the coffin at her back looking up into the face of the woman with silent curiosity. Talia reached up to take the tiara when the justice brats raced into the room. The two archers took aim and fired at her henchman who went down as one arrow struck him in the temple and the other hit him in the gut. His gun went flying and Talia swore as she snatched the tiara off the statue and turned towards the children. Diane had strangely not moved from her spot in front of the statue.

"Get away from her!" Kid Flash shouted in unison with Red Arrow who had pulled another arrow and was now pointing it at Talia. Talia glared at them as the Martian and Kryptonian inched forwards trying to get to Diane. Talia didn't really want to do it but she pulled her gun and pointed it at Diane.

"Any of you make a move and she dies." The whole room shook and rocks started to fall from the celling as Talia lunged forwards in an attempt to grab Diane. A falling rock blocked her path and forced her to dive to the side. The team was forced to scatter as the rocks began falling around them. Wally and Roy made straight for Diane but the rocks made it exceedingly difficult to get to her. Talia ran for the exit. She had what she had come for and the justice brats would be too busy saving Diane to worry about her. Talia disappeared down the corridor. Once she was gone the shaking slowed and stopped. The team looked around confused.

"Well that was interesting wasn't it?" A voice echoed from the middle of the room. Diane stood there but it was certainly not Diane's voice that had echoed around them moments before. Roy stared eyes narrowed but Wally spotted what was wrong before he did. Her eyes, normally sapphire blue, were glimmering silver.

"Who are you and what have you done with Diane!" Wally tensed readying for a fight as those eyes turned to him. Then she laughed, clear as a bell.

"There is no need to fear, your friend is fine, just asleep. I am the Lady Fate and this is my tomb." The team stared at her all clearly confused, the woman smiled through Diane.

"I am just borrowing her body to make sure no one else gets ahold of my power." She pointed at Wally.

"You've experienced something similar. You were a brief host for Dr. Fate. How is Nabu these days?" Wally stared.

"Uhhh, kind of an ass. How could you possibly know that?" Diane's smile looked odd with those silver eyes.

"I can see it on you. It isn't hard to spot if you know how to find it." Roy still had his bow drawn but he wasn't pointing it at Diane, he just couldn't.

"Why did Talia take the tiara thing?" The smile widened.

"Legend says I placed my power in an artifact in my tomb, legend was correct but everyone assumed I would put it in something grand and expensive." Diane, Lady Fate, held up a simple golden bell with a wooden handle.

"They say the greatest part about magic is the illusion of it. I suppose that is true in some ways." Roy was still glaring.

"Let Diane go." She laughed again. The rest of the team was watching this exchange unsure of what to do.

"Don't worry I will. We should leave the tomb first however. My power has been holding it together all these years but I can't hold it together much longer." With a wave of her hand and a sparkle of silver in the air they were suddenly outside. The helicopter was gone as was Talia but her henchman was laying on the ground in front of them hands and feet tied though he was still unconscious. Superboy glanced around.

"Where's Wolf?" Diane raised an eyebrow.

"Wolf?" Superboy nodded.

"He's my friend, we had to leave him behind in the tomb when he couldn't fit through the tunnel." Diane nodded, silver eyes still glowing she waved her hand and a very confused dust covered Wolf appeared in front of them. He huffed and sneezed then ran up to Superboy before rushing over to Diane and smelling her his tail wagging. Diane ran a hand through his fur smiling slightly. Then those silver eyes turned to the sky and the smile widened. She took a deep breath.

"It is so good to see the sky again, even if it is through another's eyes." Roy glared at those silver eyes as Diane sighed.

"But the world doesn't need me anymore, magic isn't what it used to be in the world. It is time I passed on." Those silver eyes shimmered as she turned to Wally smiling wide. She tossed the little golden bell to him which he caught in surprise.

"Your friend will be alright though I fear she will be very stretched emotionally when she wakes up. I wish you all luck, I believe you will need it." M'ggan stepped forwards.

"Do you know who wanted your power? Who sent Talia Ah Ghul after you?" The smile vanished.

"I suspect it was the same one who is responsible for my death. I do not know what his name would be now but in my day he went by Clarion. Good luck." Before any of them could say anything silver light poured out of Diane's eyes and then vanished entirely. Diane stood there shaking for a moment before her knees gave out and Wally ran to catch her. She was already out by the time she landed in his arms.


	10. Reunited

**Author's Note: Two Chapters in one day! What is this madness! This will be the next to last chapter, lots of angst and fluff here. I own nothing. **

Wally refused to put Diane down as they made their way back to the bio ship. He was just so relieved that she was here and seemingly unhurt, just asleep. But that could mean she had slipped back into her coma for all he knew. He was worried about her. The cave hadn't been the same without her, the team wasn't the same without Robin. Diane remained unconscious as they boarded the bio ship. Superboy was carrying the still unconscious shadow goon and tossed him into the brig M'ggan created as they boarded the ship. M'ggan summoned a table to lay Diane on. It was in front of Wally's chair so as soon as he had her situated he sat down and took her hand. Roy went over to a small cabinet near M'ggan's chair and opened it retrieving a blanket and tucking it around Diane. He went back and found a small pillow, carefully putting it under Diane's head. Kaldur watched in slight amazement. He hadn't seen Roy act like this towards anyone. Once Roy took his seat they took off and Kaldur turned to Roy who was watching Wally.

"You two seem close." Roy nodded.

"She is like a little sister to me. She's an amazing kid whose been through way too much for someone her age. She's a good kid, I just hope she wakes up." Kaldur nodded watching their speedster still holding the girls hand, green eyes fixed on her closed ones.

"Wally seems quite attached to her." Roy grinned slightly.

"He'll deny it to his dying day but I think he's got a crush on her." Kaldur raised an eyebrow.

"Why would he deny it?" Roy grinned and shook his head.

"She knows him too well, he's a bit girl crazy. Plus, he wouldn't want to ruin their friendship if she doesn't return his feelings you know?" Kaldur nodded. He knew what that was like. Superboy called over to them as he and M'ggan finished speaking.

"We're gonna call Batman if that's ok Kaldur." Kaldur nodded.

"Yes, that's a good idea." Soon everyone was in their spots and they were calling Batman. The dark knight answered immediately and only Roy saw the look of relief that passed over his face for half a second when he spotted Diane.

"Mission accomplished I see. Any complications?" Kaldur shook his head.

"We almost had to confront Talia but the fight was avoided, I will put everything in the mission report. We are heading back to the mountain now." Batman cut across him.

"No head to Wayne Manor in camouflage. I'll inform Bruce Wayne that you're coming. Land on the front lawn, there should be plenty of room. Your priority right now is getting Diane Grayson home. Batman out." Kaldur nodded and M'ggan turned the bio ship and set a new course. About ten minutes later most of them were asleep, having not gotten much the night before. Roy was awake as was Wally and M'ggan, so they were the only ones who saw when Diane Grayson began to thrash in her sleep. M'ggan could feel the nightmare the girl was having, though she strove not to pry into this stranger's head. It was far from pleasant. She was muttering in her sleep, nothing that M'ggan could understand though. Wally seemed to though for his grip on her hand tightened and he brushed her hair out of her face as Roy stood and walked over to the makeshift bed. Roy laid a hand on Diane's shoulder and she awoke with a scream sitting bolt upright on the bed.

Diane woke from a nightmare with a scream but really that was to be expected especially with the dream she was having, watching everyone she'd ever cared about being disintegrated by invading aliens was very distressing. Her vision took a moment to clear and after a second she realized why. There were tears in her eyes. She blinked several times and finally her surroundings came into focus and the face of Roy Harper, as Red Arrow, came into focus.

"R… Roy?" Diane hated how shaky her voice sounded but she couldn't help it. He smiled.

"Hey kiddo, how are you feeling?" Diane didn't think, didn't process the bio ship or the five other heroes in the room. She just launched herself at Roy hugging him tight and crying into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her as she sobbed into his uniform. Wally had risen and was standing next to them rocking on the balls of his feet.

"Hey Diane what am I chopped liver?" Diane looked over at him, bright sapphire blue eyes still dripping tears. She reached out and pulled him into the hug. The team watched with small smiles on their faces. Artemis was in the corner trying not to be seen but Diane didn't seem interested in the other heroes in the slightest, she was too busy holding on to her friends. About twenty minutes later they were landing on the well-manicured front lawn of Wayne Manor. Bruce Wayne and an older man dressed in a suit were standing in the doorway. The back of the bio ship opened and the walkway descended. Roy helped Diane down the ramp but once she spotted Bruce he knew he wasn't going to be able to hold her back.

Diane took off running down the remainder of the ramp and across the lawn. Bruce met her halfway scooping her up into his arms as she sobbed into his shoulder.

"It's ok, I've got you. You're home. I've got you. I've got you." He kept talking to her, rubbing circles on her back as she sobbed. They stood there for a few minutes before Bruce turned his attention to the teen heroes who were standing awkwardly in the entrance of the bio ship.

"Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you for bringing her home. If you ever need anything ever, at all." Wally shook his head.

"Don't worry about that Mr. Wayne, knowing she's home safe is more than enough." Bruce smiled at them still rubbing Diane's back. The teens loaded back up into the bio ship and took off into the night. Bruce turned back to their house and Alfred smiled at his charges as they walked past him. Bruce sat down on the couch with Diane still in his arms.

"Alfred would you call Leslie please?" Alfred nodded.

"Already on her way Master Bruce. Shall I make some hot chocolate?" Bruce nodded and Alfred laid a hand on Diane's head to make sure she was real for just a moment. She reached up and took his hand squeezing it. He smiled at her and walked off to the kitchen. When he returned Diane was just finishing telling Bruce everything that had happened, Leslie had arrived and was checking Diane over as Diane finished talking.

"And that's everything I remember. Then I woke up on the bio ship with Roy and Wally. Then we got back here." Leslie leaned back.

"Well you've got a clean bill of physical health sweetie. I am so glad to see you up and about." Leslie ruffled Diane's hair.

"I've got to get back to the clinic but please call me if you need anything." Bruce nodded and Leslie left. Alfred handed them each a mug of hot chocolate and went to finish making cookies, baking always helped him feel better in stressful situations. When he returned half an hour later he found both of them asleep. Bruce had his arm around Diane who was curled up in his lap. Alfred smiled and retrieved a blanket draping it around his charges. It was best to just leave them where they were for now. Both of them needed reassurance that the other was still alive.


	11. Surprises

**Author's Note: Everyone thought this was done. I didn't make it as done. This is the last chapter though so I will be marking it as done after this. I own nothing. **

11 Surprises

The team was sitting around in the living room trying to watch a movie. They had decided after getting back to the mountain they would spend the rest of the day together since they hadn't done that in two months. Most of them were failing miserably. Superboy was the only one who actually seemed interested in the old detective flick. Kaldur was reading a book Artemis had recommended to him, it was quite interesting all about an imaginary world and disappearing cats and magic mushrooms. Wally was wolfing down popcorn while Artemis and Roy were comparing arrows on the kitchen table. M'ggan was sitting on the edge of the couch her arms wrapped around her knees. She was feeling very melancholy. This last mission and Wally's movie choice reminded her of Robin and that she was laying somewhere off in some cave in a coma because of her. It was all she could do not to cry. Superboy tilted his head and grabbed the remote off the side of the couch. Wally turned to him frowning.

"I was watching that." Superboy nodded towards the hallway towards the Zeta beam tubes.

"Batman's here." The team looked around at each other confused but all stood and quickstepped to the training room. Batman was indeed standing there seemingly waiting for them. They lined up as they usually did for debriefs but there was a slight smile on Batman's face.

"At ease everyone. I have some news for you. I would have told you sooner but any mission against the shadows has standard radio silence no matter how important the news." Wally was bouncing on the balls of his feet, Roy had a slight smile on his face but the others just looked confused. M'ggan was twisting her hands together.

"Is it Robin? Is he ok?" Batman actually smiled this time and pushed a button on his belt.

"Ask him yourself." The zeta tube lit up and the computer spoke.

"Recognized Robin B01." Once the light died down the team saw a familiar figure dressed this time in a pair of baggy sweatpants and her usual blue hoodie and sunglasses. She raised a hand and waved.

"Hi guys." Wally was across the room in a nanosecond, hugging his best friend. Roy laughed and ruffled Robins hair as the others gathered around. Artemis punched Robin in the shoulder lightly.

"Welcome back birdie, good to have another normal human back on the team." Superboy nodded and Kaldur smiled laying a hand on Robin's shoulder. M'ggan was standing back, away from the group. She thought she would feel better once Robin was back on her feet but now all she could do was think how much the youngest member of their team was going to hate her now. Robin turned to look for her and M'ggan stepped back slightly. Robin dodged around Artemis and raced over to M'ggan and wrapped her in a hug.

"I'm so glad you're ok M'ggan." Tears fell unbidden from the Martians eyes as she wrapped her arms around the younger girl.

"But it was my fault… I…" Robin cut across her.

"No it wasn't. You didn't know that would happen, none of us did. Nothing that happened during the simulation or as a result of it was your fault, it wasn't any of our faults." Wally nodded as he raced over to them.

"He's right you know." Robin pulled him into the hug along with M'ggan. Roy joined them followed reluctantly by Artemis. Soon the whole team was wrapped up in one big group hug. Batman smiled at the team that cared so deeply for his daughter. She raised an eyebrow at him, only just visible over her dark shades. He nodded at her unspoken question. She smiled and shot him the thumbs up from where her hand rested around M'ggan's neck. Batman nodded and turned back to the Zeta tubes. As they recognized him Roy turned to the tubes.

"He's leaving you alone after the last two months? That surprises me." Robin smiled.

"He knows I wanna hang out with you guys for a while. I hear you had a mission while I was out?" Wally began to babble as they walked back to the living room.

Several hours later Batman came to pick Robin up and found the team asleep on the couch in one big pile of people and blankets. The DVD menu screen for Robin's favorite Disney movie, Mulan, was playing on a loop and Robin was snuggled into the center of the mass of people a smile on her face as she slept. Batman smiled and left them alone, they would keep an eye on her for the night and call if anything went wrong.


End file.
